The Secret Pursuit of Ariadne
by Pride in the Hated
Summary: ". . . I thought about it for a long time, you've liked me since the paradox lesson, haven't you?"   Arthur doesn't want to interfere with Ariadne's feelings for Cobb, but that doesn't stop the Architect from figuring out his feeling all on her on her own


**((A/N:** Fulfilling my need for the Ariadne/Arthur ship. Complementing a Arthur/Eames fic next, or maybe a sequel to this one, which I so enjoyed doing, it's [obviously] a song fic.

The song is Secrets by One Republic.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the song, I don't own the band, I don't own Inception, I don't own it's characters! WELL I JUST DON'T OWN ANYTHING NOW DO I?

Ahh- the ending might confuse some people, or maybe that's just me self criticizing my work, if you don't understand send me a message or comment and i'll be more than happy to explain it -_-'**))**

* * *

Ariadne pulled her suitcase to Arthur's side, she was closest to him after Cobb and it only felt right that her final goodbye would go to him, but as she stood next to the Point-man she caught a glimpse of Dominick Cobb nervously walk away from immigration.

"There he goes." Ariadne muttered, she gave Arthur a look filled with pure desperation, and after Arthur looked up at Cobb receiving a pat on the back by his father-in-law, he understood.

"You liked him," Arthur replied, "You should of told him, I figure you have a chance, he was very attached to you."

"I doubt it, besides after seeing him and Mal- well, he'd never care for me as much as he did for her." Ariadne retorted, trying to act as if it wasn't anything big, but Arthur could tell, the college girl was smitten, and Arthur didn't stand a chance.

"It was worth a shot." Arthur repeated aloud, Ariadne looked at him in surprise, remembering the kiss, it seemed worlds away and why Arthur would even bring it up was a mystery to her. Arthur studied Ariadne, she didn't know that Arthur was talking more to himself than to anyone.

"What now?" Ariadne asked him, she was in Los Angles, a very far jump from Paris, France, and even though Saito paid her enough to make this trip and back hundreds of times over Ariadne still felt at a loss of what to do; she had almost suffered a fate worse than death with these men, did they expect her to just leave without so much as a by-your-leave?

"We all meet at a rondevu point later today, tie up some loose ends, then it's every man for himself and we all go our separate ways." Arthur replied in a matter-of-fact voice.

"And where would that be?" Ariadne asked, her voice had long since grown normal, and her face seemed ironed from her worry-wrinkles.

_'She's always full of questions,' _Arthur thought to himself, "A hotel room a few miles away from here, we're not going to meet up right away, in case one of us is followed, but by 7 if one of doesn't show then we know we've been discovered."

"Wait! What happens then?" Ariadne demanded, worry filled her face, usually that look was directed to Cobb, but now it was for the team in whole.

"You're saying you don't have an exit strategy planned out?" Arthur asked, his normal couth manner of speaking abandoned in alarm.

"I thought once we reached Los Angles we'd be in the clear!" Ariadne replied, her brows knitted in distress. Arthur looked back at baggage claim, he reached into his coat and pulled out a business card with his contact information on it, he handed it to Ariadne despite the fact that she already owned one.

"Would you like to join me for lunch ma'am?" his voice a bit louder than the conversation called for, but he wasn't exactly yelling.

"Arthur-" Ariadne started, but Arthur gestured behind her, where Fischer was standing, Ariadne understood immediately, "I'd love to."

_I need another story  
Something to get off my chest  
My life gets kinda boring  
Need something that I can confess_

Now Ariadne and Arthur sat at a small cafe similar to the one from her first shared dream.

"Shouldn't we be heading to the hotel soon?" Ariadne asked.

"We want to keep up appearances for as long as possible." Arthur replied before sipping on his coffee.

"Will Cobb be there?" Ariadne asked hopefully, her hope felt like daggers in Arthur's heart.

"He should be, or at least call." Arthur replied as curtly as possible. Ariadne wasn't sure, but she felt as if she struck a nerve, so she decided to change the subject.

"Where will you go now?" Ariadne asked.

"Where ever work calls Lady Ariadne." Arthur replied with a smile, he actually had been contemplating that same thought for a while now, he knew if the inception worked Cobb would go home and he would be out of a partner, he had considered his options, Yusuf didn't go under, Saito was far too important to go on such expeditions, Eames. . . no, just no. He needed a new partner, but more than that he needed a new gig.

"What happens if you can't find work?" Ariadne inquired further, the longest Arthur ever went with out work was exactly 4 months, 2 weeks, 2 days, 15 hours, 34 minutes and 15 seconds, and during that excruciating period of time Arthur spent most of his time at a cafe much like the one he was currently at, where he successfully failed at writing a book. Also during this time he found a small side-hobby, surfing Craig's List for cheap novelty furniture.

"There's always work." Arthur replied, pushing that pathetic existence from his mind, he would not be returning to the Craig's List homepage anytime soon

"Of course there's always work, but as good as you are your just another extractor-for-hire without Cobb." Ariadne retorted, not knowing just how much that stung Arthur. The more he thought about it the more Arthur realized he wanted Ariadne to be his architect, to travel by his side loyally through many extractions, but most of all he wanted Ariadne to be his, Arthur didn't know how to tell her this, but he could always start by asking her to be his architect.

"Come on, lets go to the hotel now."

_Til' all my sleeves are stained red  
From all the truth that I've said  
Come by it honestly I swear  
Thought you saw wink, no  
I've been on the brink, so_  
Eames was already in the room when Ariadne and Arthur arrived, and so was Saito, they were just waiting for Yusuf and Cobb, if Cobb decided to come at all, the doorknob turned and Ariadne spun on a heel, ready to see Cobb come into the room and inform the crew on what to do next. Instead of Dominick Cobb she got Yusuf, Ariadne's heart sank just a bit, she looked at Arthur and he seemed to share her sentiments, but he wasn't staring at Yusuf but at Ariadne, herself.

"-And then there was one." Saito announced, not quite using the phrase in the correct manner.

"what time is it?" Ariadne asked nervously, she couldn't shake the forlorn look Arthur gave her when he thought she wasn't looking.

"6:15. Plenty of time princess." Eames replied, calling her by the pet name he had appointed her.

"He'll be here, if he wasn't he would've called by now." Arthur told her, reassuringly. Ariadne replayed Arthur's words in her head, over and over again, each time she realized more and more that Arthur struggled through that whole sentence.

Casual conversation flowed through the room as minutes ticked by, jokes about what could had been done better, or how someone could have done something differently, Yusuf constantly reminded the crew that he barrel-rolled the car down a hill to avoid the baddies until Eames threatened him with Limbo. It was 6:49 when Cobbs came through the door.

"Thought you'd never show." Eames commented, Dom just smiled, and Ariadne found herself trying not to be happy, she was afraid of the look Arthur would give her next.

"I like to make a dramatic entrance." Cobb said with a grin, now Ariadne couldn't help but smile, looking around everyone was smiling too, the crew knew how important this was to Cobb, and everyone could tell by the grin on Cobb's face that his family reunion was a good one, casual conversation continued, Eames pulled out two wine bottles for celebratory purposes.

"I shouldn't, I really shouldn't." Ariadne objected as Eames handed her a glass, but she ended up drinking it anyway, by the end of the night everyone was thoroughly tipsy.

Ariadne had been avoiding both Cobb and Arthur's gazes, afraid of what either of them had to say to her, but Cobb's eyes managed to find her own as she started at an awkwardly long embrace shared by Cobb and Saito.

"Ariadne, would you join me on the balcony." Cobb asked, Ariadne giggled at Cobb's drunken mispronunciation of her name, she followed him onto the balcony.

"Thank you, Re-adne." Cobb mispronounced her name again, it was obvious he was a bit more than tipsy, "for all your help. In my dream."

Ariadne giggled some more, "It's not a problem Cobb."

"Where-where will you go now?" Cobb asked, the cool breeze was doing it's work, Cobb was sobering up.

"I don't know. I was hoping you could tell me." Ariadne answered hopefully, she looked in the window, she could see Arthur staring at them with the saddest look she had ever seen

"My fa-father-in-law, He's going ba-back to Paris s-s-soon. You can fly b-back with him." Cobb told Ariadne, it was the most heartbreaking thing he had ever said to her, after everything they had been through, after all the help she tried to give him, even after helping him get over Mal, he still didn't want her. Ariadne wallowed in her grief, staring out at Arthur, who couldn't see her staring due to the glare in the glass, and the more she thought about Cobb's rejection, the more Ariadne felt... relieved.

"No, Cobb, I think I'm gonna travel. . . with Arthur." Ariadne's voice shook as she answered Cobb, but she realized the whole situation didn't hurt as much as she thought it would.

"Are you sure, you already know that extraction is dangerous." Cobb asked, he was beginning to regain his sobriety.

"Yeah." Ariadne replied, Cobb smiled an offered her a hug, to which Ariadne willfully accepted, after the embrace was over Cobb returned inside, leaving Ariadne on the balcony. Ariadne stood alone mourning her loss of hope in her's and Cobb's relationship.

"Did you tell him?" Arthur asked, coming up and standing with her.

"No, he's not interested." Ariadne replied with a sad smirk.

"I'm sorry." Arthur told her, Ariadne looked him and smiled.

"It's okay, I knew it would happen." Ariadne replied with as much gumption as she could muster.

"Doesn't make it hurt any less." Arthur replied with a knowing smile.

"What? Getting rejected by someone you care about greatly?" Ariadne asked, Arthur just nodded, "who says I rejected you?"

Arthur did a double take, sure he liked Ariadne but he had never let that no, not even to the girl himself, "E-excuse me?"

"You never asked me so technically I've never told you no, all in all, you've never been rejected." Ariadne told Arthur, he stared at her for a moment before he started laughing.

"And what makes you think that your the subject of my comparison?" Arthur asked.

"At first I didn't know what to think, you encouraged my affection towards Cobb, but at the same time the way you look at me. . . I thought about it for a long time, you've liked me since the paradox lesson, haven't you?"

_Tell me what you want to hear  
Something that were like those years  
Sick of all the insincere  
So I'm gonna give all my secrets away_

Arthur didn't know what to say, of course Ariadne was right, but he wanted to avoid telling her that, "Ariadne, you have the most cunning nose for the dealings of the heart." Arthur replied.

"That wasn't my question." Ariadne replied with a pointed look.

"What do you want to hear? You already know how I feel." Arthur replied.

"After you kissed me, you said-"

"It was worth a shot." Arthur and Ariadne repeated together.

"You didn't say that because Fischer's subconscious didn't stop staring, you said it because I didn't kiss back." Ariadne explained, Arthur nodded.

"Very good deduction, Ariadne." came Arthur's usual insincere reply.

"Is that all you have to say?" Ariadne demanded.

"You did all the talking needed."

"That can't be all there is!" Ariadne cried out in distress, and for a moment Arthur was happy, for once he was on the receiving end of Ariadne's attention. Arthur wanted right then and there to take Ariadne in his arms and kiss her.

"I've always had trouble picking out a crew, and now that Cobb's leaving I'll be all on my own in the hiring process," Arthur changed the subject without giving Ariadne a passing glance, "It would be much easier if I had people in definite positions, so if you're not returning to Paris any time soon I'd appreciate you coming in and being my architect."

"We both know that's not all you want Arthur-" Ariadne began to argue but Arthur interrupted.

"You're skills are second to none, I haven't met an architect as good as you since Cobb did the work." Arthur added, ignoring Ariadne, the more she talked the more Arthur wanted her to shut up, her words hit more nerves than it did when she would speak of the amazing Dominick Cobb.

"-Arthur why don't you just admit it? You like me, it's no big secret, and-" Ariadne continued. Arthur couldn't take it anymore, he felt like Ariadne had extracted every little secret from his heart. Arthur took in several deep breaths, when he was done there as quite, Ariadne had stopped talking.

"Arthur?" Ariadne questioned softly.

"Did you- did you just ask me on a date?" Arthur asked the girl, pulling out bits and pieces of information from the speech he barely listened to. Ariadne nodded ever so slightly.

"Ariadne." Arthur laughed while saying, but he didn't finish his thought, instead he pulled the girl into a kiss that said it all. Behind the two came a roar of applause, Saito, Cobb, Yusuf, and Eames had been listening in since '_who says I rejected you?_'

"Arthur." Ariadne called herself to Arthur's attention.

"Yeah." Arthur replied, a slight blush on his cheeks from both the kiss and the applause.

"You didn't close the screen door behind you." Ariadne pointed out in a soft voice.

"Yeah, I noticed." Arthur said in a humored voice, though at this point he didn't care that the team applauded Ariadne and himself. Arthur payed no heed to Eames's wolf whistling or the fact that his co-workers popped open another bottle of champagne in the new couple's honor, instead he pulled Ariadne into yet another kiss.

_This time, don't need another perfect line  
Don't care if critics never jump in line  
I'm gonna give all my secrets away_

Ariadne and Arthur stood on the balcony, she smiled up at him.

"What?" Arthur asked, cupping Ariadne's face in his hand.

"I'm waiting." Ariadne replied matter-of-factly.

"For?" Arthur was very confused, what could Ariadne possibly be asking for.

"Your comical one-liner." Ariadne replied, as if it was obvious.

"Well I'm not trying to impress anyone this time around, so I don't think I need one." Arthur replied lovingly.

"Ariadne, Ariadne, watch out for this one, he seems all plans and details, but he hasn't a clue what he's doing." Eames warned, wobbling out onto the balcony, he was obviously drunk but you could barely tell from his voice.

"You're one to talk, Eames." Arthur replied, but he didn't seem annoyed with Eames as he normally did, but a expression of amusement covered his face.

"I haven't a clue what I'm doing, but at least I know that I don't know, and such." okay, scratch that last statement, it was a bit obvious he was drunk.

"Eames! Did you ask them?" Saito's voice carried to the balcony, Eames turned his head, temporarily lost.

"Just a moment!" Eames shouted back, he turned back to the couple, "we're off to the pub, care to join us?"

"haven't you had enough to drink, Eames?" Ariadne asked.

"Princess, it's almost as if you've never met me." Eames's reply came with drunken laughter.

"I think I'll stay, not much of a drinker, you guys have fun." Arthur replied, Eames gave him a suspicious look, and when Ariadne also declined all of Eames's questions were answered.

"Well then Darling, if I don't see you in the morning, till next time." Eames removed his hand from his pocket and offered it to Arthur is a gesture of friendship.

"Till next time." Arthur replied, shaking the offered hand. Arthur gave Eames a disapproving look as they shook hands, Eames was attempting to hand Arthur what seemed to be a small, plastic, square-shaped package, and Arthur could only guess what it was.

"Princess," Eames greeted after breaking the shake, he and Ariadne shared a wobbly hug, before Eames left he gave Arthur a look of general concern and asked, "You do know how to use one of those, right?"

"Good bye, Eames." Arthur turned a faint shade of pink, much to Ariadne's amusement, she wondered what the two were talking about.

"Just remember, pinch the tip." Eames advised, a look crossed Arthur's face, Ariadne couldn't tell if it was the urge to throw Eames off the edge, or to jump himself.

"Good Bye, Eames!" Arthur repeated, louder than last time, and with more urgency, and with a final bow Eames took his leave. Ariadne and Arthur shared a look, he held up the condom and blushed a bit.

"He love's a good laugh." Arthur attempted to explain as he threw the condom off the balcony.

_My god, amazing how we got this far  
It's like we're chasing all those stars  
Who's driving shiny big black cars  
And everyday I see the news  
All the problems that we could solve_

Ariadne excused herself to the bathroom, she paced the tiled floor, a million and one reasons popped into her head to why she shouldn't date Arthur.

He's too old.

Cobb's older.

I don't know him.

Oh, and you and Cobb were as close as lips and teeth.

He's a co-worker.

In this field of work, exceptions can be made.

He's Arthur for Christ's sake!

And yet you like him anyway.

It was all happening so fast, Ariadne held her head between her knees. After a few minutes of this Arthur came knocking at her door, "Ariadne? Room service is here."

"Coming!" Ariadne shouted, she patted the wrinkles out of her shirt and walking into the main room.

"I figure you must miss France so-" Arthur lifted the silver lid of one of the meals to reveal french fries, "-Ta-da!"

Ariadne couldn't help but to laugh, "Arthur, Eames called, he wasn't his corny puns back."

Ariadne and Arthur laughed for a good five minutes before the television caught their attention, It was Fischer giving a speech at his father's wake.

'My father wanted me to be my own man-'

"it's too bad the boy's aren't here to see this." Ariadne told Arthur, munching on french fries while watching the broadcast.

"It's breaking news, if they're anywhere near a television, they'll see it." Arthur replied, and once again Ariadne felt awkward to be alone with Arthur.

'-he believed that I could rise above his greatness and make myself a better man, Maurice Fischer wouldn't want his son trying to follow in his footsteps, he wanted a son, not a clone-'

The silence between the two caused them both to fidget in their seats.

"Arthur-"

"Ariadne-"

they laugh again, but this time it's an awkward attempt to hide their discomfort.

_And when a situation rises  
Just write it into an album  
Singing straight, too cold  
I don't really like my flow, no, so_  
"Are we _together_?" Ariadne blurted out bluntly. Arthur shifted in his seat, he had been questioning this himself, neither of them had really asked either to go steady, sure Ariadne asked him on a date, but when does dating transition into a relationship?

"What do you mean?" Arthur asked, he knew what she was asking, he just needed more time to think.

"Are you my boyfriend?" Ariadne tried re-explaining the question.

"Well, it depends, are you my girlfriend?" Arthur answered her question with one of his own, he saw the look of pure thought on Ariadne's face.

"No." She answered at last.

"We're just dating then." Arthur replied, Ariadne gave a sigh of relief, but then realized how that must have seemed to Arthur.

"Oh not that I don't want to date you it's just-" Ariadne began to rant, but Arthur shushed her.

"I understand Ariadne. I of all people should understand, I don't want to rush into things either you know." Arthur soothed, Ariadne smiled.

"This could work then, we could date and extract together." Ariadne said happily.

"A modern day Bonnie and Clyde." Arthur replied, once they had their situation settled it was much easier to hold a conversation. After a few hours Ariadne realized how late it was.

"They're not coming back, are they?" Ariadne asked.

"No, I wouldn't expect them to. The job's done." Arthur replied.

"It doesn't feel like a goodbye though." Ariadne noted.

"With this kind of work it never is." Arthur confirmed, Ariadne smiled, she and Arthur sat on the bed together, watching in-room movies and making small talk. Arthur asked Ariadne about Paris, her family, her childhood. It seemed Ariadne's life was that of a normal person, she grew up near Paris with her both parents, every other summer and every Christmas she would fly out to Chicago, Illinois to spend time with her grandparents, who were both Architects. Ariadne's grandfather died when she was 15, she cried like a baby at the funeral, and she hadn't been back to Chicago since. Ariadne got into the university on a scholarship, it actually had been very fortunate that Cobb had recruited her because even with the scholarship studying in Paris was rather pricey.

All together Ariadne had 3 serious relationships, 2 flings, and had already experienced that one painful unrequited love. She was very normal compared to everyone else on the team, Arthur almost felt bad that Cobb recruited her.

_Oh, got no reason, got not shame  
Got no family I can blame  
Just don't let me disappear  
I'mma tell you everything_  
"What about you?" Ariadne asked, "Why are you in the extracting business?"

Arthur thought about it and shrugged, "I don't really have a reason-"

Arthur's sentence trailed off into a yawn, Ariadne could tell he was tired but that didn't stop her from questioning him.

"And your parents? Do they know your an extractor?" Ariadne asked.

"My mother abandoned us when I was 6, my father died of liver failure when I was 19, I have a sister, but we were never exactly the poster children for a healthy sibling relationship." Arthur explained, he laid his head on the pillow and closed his eyes.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know." Ariadne mumbled, a bit embarrassed for asking.

"that's why I'm point-man." Arthur too mumbled, though it was because he was tired. Arthur didn't want to fall asleep just yet, sleeping was pure agony, 8-10 hours of pure nothingness, he missed dreaming. Arthur was pulled from his thoughts when Ariadne surprised him with her forwardness by rested her head on his chest, they were both fully clothe, save for Arthur's jacket and Ariadne's scarf, so if Eames did decide to return they could deny any jest or tease he threw at them. Ariadne mumbled another question, but between Arthur's day dreaming and Ariadne's near-sleep mumbling Arthur didn't hear the question.

"Ask me again tomorrow," Arthur whispered into Ariadne's hair right before drifting off to sleep, "I'll tell you everything."

-and for the first time in a long time Arthur didn't dream of nothingness


End file.
